Implement for fluting boot or shoe uppers



(No Model.)

O. T. WOOD.

IMPLEMENT FOR FLUTING BOOT OR SHOE UPPERS. No. 391,002. Patented Oct. 9,1888.

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UNiT-En STATES PATENT Onions.

CHARLES T. YVOOD, OF LYNN, ASSIGrNOR,- BY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO THE BAY STATE LASTING MACHINE COMPANY, OF BOSTON,

MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPLEMENT FOR FLUTING BOOT OR SHOE UPPERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 391,002, dated October 9, 1888.

Application filed March 12, 1888. Serial No. 266,934. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES '1. W001), of Lynn, county of Essex, State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Boot or Shoe Machinery, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the drawings accompanying and forming a part hereof, in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of my machine. Fig.

1 2 is a front elevation. Fig. 3 is a section on line 2 2, Fig. 1.

My machine is intended chiefly for use as an auxiliary device in connection with an improved lasting-machine, which will be found more fully described and shown in an application for Letters Patent therefor now pending, the serial number of which is 262,638. In the operation of my said lasting-machine the edge of the upper around the toe is drawn in,

and theincreasing fullness toward the extreme edge of the upper is taken up by the formation of a series of tapering flutes or corrugations which are deepest at the extreme edge of the upper and gradually diminish until they 2 disappear at about the point where the upper bends over the edge of the last. These flutes or corrugations are produced, in the operation of lasting the shoe, by seizing the edge of the upper between a pivoted jaw having tapering ,0 or diminishing teeth and ablock having teeth correspondingly shaped. In lasting uppers which are very hard and stifl, or which have leather tips which render them unyielding and difficult for the machine to operate upon 5 with the best results, I find it advantageous to prepare the uppers before they are put on the last by fluting or corrugating the toe part, thus partially or fully producing in advance flutes to suit the lasting-machine, and render- 0 ing its work easier and more certain.

The object of my invention is the production of a machine for thus fiuting or corrugating the edges of the upper in advance of the lasting-machine; and it consistsin abase-piece 43 provided with a series of teeth and a gear adapted to mesh therewith, the whole being constructed and arranged as shown, and hereinafter described.

The invention is very simple, and consists of a base piece or plate, a having a rounded front, and provided with a series of tapering teeth, f, arranged on a curve or semi-circle on either side of the center of the base-plate. The space in the center of the plate may or may not be toothed; but I prefer to make it 5 5 without teeth, as shown, since a portion at the center of the toe of the upper is not acted upon by the toothed jaws of my lasting-machine above referred to, and so is not benefited by being previously fluted. The base-plate a may be secured to a table or bench in any convenient manner, and is provided with an arched supporting-frame, I), underneath the center of which an arm, 01, is pivoted at e to a stud, g, swiveled in the frame. (See Fig. 3.) This arm has a handle at its outer end, which may be conveniently grasped, and it is also provided with a gear, h, journaled thereon,and having tapering teeth correspond ing with the teeth of the base-plate and adapted to mesh therewith. In front of the gear h an arm, j, is rigidly secured to the arm d, and projects downwardly therefrom, and is provided at its lower end with an inwardlyprojecting stud, 70, Fig. 3, which carries a 7 5 yielding roll, Z, of rubber or similar elastic material, which lies directly under the front edge of the base-plate. This roll serves to hold the gear h against the teeth f with a yielding pressure, which may be increased by the downward pressure of the operator on the handle-as will'be obvious.

In using my device the toe of the upper is inserted from the rear under the arm (1 and under the gear h, and the arm is then swung horizontally over the edge of the upper until the edge'has been softened and broken in and given flutes or corrugations corresponding in shape to the shape of the teeth of the gear and base-plates. go

The arm j and its stud and roll are not essential to the-operation of the machine, as the pressure requisite may be applied by the operator; but I prefer, for the best results, to construct the device as shown.

What I claim is-- 1. The combination, with a base-piece provided with a series of teeth, of the frame I) and the swinging arm 01", secured to said frame, and provided with a gear, h, adapted to mesh :00

\ of the frame Z)", the arm d, pivoted at one end with the teeth of the base-piece, substantially having a rubber roll projecting under the as shown and described. front edge of the base-piece, substantially as 2. 'lhecombination,with thebase-pieeehavshown and described. ing tapering teeth arranged in a curve thereon, CHARLES '1. WOOD.

Witnesses:

WM. A. MAoLEoD, ROBERT VVALLAOIC.

to a swivel in the frame, the toothed gear h, mounted on said arm, the arm j, and its stud 

